News Room - Press Releases

Newport News, VA (March 31, 2006) – Mary Immaculate Hospital has named Nora Paffrath as Chair of the Board of Directors.  Five new board members at-large were also named. Paffrath retired from Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth in 2001 as Vice President of Mission.  Prior to that she was the Executive Vice President/ Administrator for Portsmouth General Hospital. Paffrath holds a Master of Health Administration degree from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the College of William and Mary. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Healthcare Executives (retired), and formerly was a member of the Healthcare Administrators of Tidewater. She has served on numerous boards throughout Hampton Roads and volunteered for several organizations including the Portsmouth Area Resource Coalition, the Junior League of Hampton Roads, Health Care Administrators of Tidewater, the Shared Hospital Services, Empower Hampton Roads, the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church and the United Way.
Paffrath is interested in many issues including the improvement of public education, promotion of affordable housing and healthcare and overall justice in our community.

Among the five new board members is John Garrett, III a senior vice president at Ferguson Enterprises, Inc.  Garrett earned his Bachelor of Arts in economics from the College of William and Mary.  He later attended the Wharton School where he completed the Wharton Advanced Management Program.  He also completed management courses at the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and the University of Virginia. He serves as President of the Virginia Living Museum Board; is a member of the Warwick Rotary Club, a member of the Ferguson Enterprises Board, and formerly served on the Hampton Roads Academy Board.

Matthew James is President and CEO of the Peninsula Council of Economic and Workforce Development.  He received his Bachelor of Arts from Hampton University and an MBA from Northwest University’s Kellogg School of Management.  He is a member of the Eureka Club of Portsmouth and on the Board of the Virginia Economic Developers’ Association.

Robert Yacobi of FCR Reality attended Belmont Abbey Junior College and the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond.  He is a member of the American Bar Association, American Trial Lawyer’s Association, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and on the executive committee of the Virginia District Court Judges Association. Yacobi served as Chief Judge of the Newport News Juvenile and Domestics Court and retired from the Bench in 1992. Yacobi is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and the Leadership Historical Triangle.  He has served as a board member of the Catholic Home Bureau, Peninsula American Heart Association, Leukemia Society of America, Associated Marine Institute, Blue Ridge Institute of Juvenile & Family Court Judges, and Peninsula Catholic High School.

Edward Boyer is the Bon Secours Health System representative on the BSHR and MIH Board of Directors.  He currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Services for BSHSI in Marriottsville, Maryland.  He received his MBA from George Washington University and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland.  He serves as a board member
for the Preferred Professional Insurance Company and is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives. 

Sr. Rosemary Smith, SC, who currently serves as Senior Vice President of Sponsorship for the Bon Secours Health System and Bon Secours Hampton Roads.   As a Sister of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Sr. Rosemary brings 40 years of experience in a variety of ministries – as educator from the secondary through graduate levels; as judge in diocesan and inter-diocesan marriage tribunals and director of the diocesan tribunal; as Vicar for Religious; as canonical consultant to religious institutes and in leadership in her own religious congregation.  She holds a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America as well as a Master of Arts in English literature and a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics.

Other board members include: Sr. Mary Margaret Jackson, president of the board; Sr. David Ann Niski, secretary of the board; Dr. Daniel Cavazos, Hampton Roads Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; Paul Garman, Mid-Atlantic Commercial Real Estate; Kasia Grzelkowski, United Way; Richard Hanson, CEO of Bon Secours Hampton Roads; Ann N. Hunnicutt, President of Westwood Contractors, Inc.; Sr. M. Concetta Labenz; Sr. Rosemary Smith; Sr. Rita Thomas; Michael E. Mares, Witt, Mares, Eggleston, Smith; Dr. Hoskote S. Nagraj, Internal Medicine; Jon A. Nystrom, Virginia Company Bank; Dr. Timothy Boddie, professor and chaplain at Hampton University.
Ex-officio members include Patricia Robertson, Executive Vice President of Mary Immaculate Hospital; Sr. Madonna Marie Harvath; Dr. Barry Hellman, pathologist and Medical Staff President; and William Bell, Chair of the Mary Immaculate Foundation.

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Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System is a leading health care organization known for providing care for the whole person with grace and clinical distinction. Bon Secours brings together a network of hospitals, primary care practices, ambulatory care sites and continuing care facilities to provide quality health care services to the residents of Hampton Roads. Bon Secours, which employs more than 4,500, includes: Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center, Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, Mary Immaculate Hospital, Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View, Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Care Center and St. Francis Nursing Center.